By Andrew Williams – April 25, 2021
There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God [with reverence] and abstained from and turned away from evil [because he honored God]. Seven sons and three daughters were born to him. He also possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke (pairs) of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very great number of servants, so that this man was the greatest [and wealthiest and most respected] of all the men of the east (northern Arabia). His sons used to go [in turn] and feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send word and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. When the days of their feasting were over, Job would send [for them] and consecrate them, rising early in the morning and offering burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, “It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Job did this at all [such] times. Now there was a day when the sons of God (angels) came to present themselves before the Lord , and Satan (adversary, accuser) also came among them. The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Then Satan answered the Lord , “From roaming around on the earth and from walking around on it.” The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered and reflected on My servant Job? For there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God [with reverence] and abstains from and turns away from evil [because he honors God].” Then Satan answered the Lord , “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not put a hedge [of protection] around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands [and conferred prosperity and happiness upon him], and his possessions have increased in the land. But put forth Your hand now and touch (destroy) all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face.” Then the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that Job has is in your power, only do not put your hand on the man himself.” So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord . Job 1:1-12 AMP
INTRODUCTION
The three main characters in the book of Job are: Job, God and the devil. The major part of the book looks at how Job deals with the trials that he goes through, and the friends who are there to talk with him. But for me the most important and interesting parts are the interactions between the devil and God as they speak about Job.
The first chapter of the book of Job introduces us to the man, GOD, and the devil and gives the foundation for the rest of the book. Let us see what we can learn from the passage under review.
THE MAN
According to verse 1, it says that Job was blameless, upright, one who feared God, and one who abstained from all types of evil. From verse 5 we learn that Job would pray over his children, offer sacrifices for them and consecrate them to the Lord.
So we see that Job was one who was righteous before God, who loved God and was obedient to God. Job was also very rich. When I read this book for the first time, with this introduction, I expected only great things to follow because of the character of Job. This however is not the case, as the next six verses introduces God and the devil, and we see how Job’s life is changed because of the interaction between God and the devil.
GOD
In verse 6 we see angels (sons of god) presenting themselves before God , and Satan the devil is specifically mentioned . In the conversation with God, God is particularly pleased with Job his servant . God recognizes Job his servant as being blameless, upright, one who reverences God, and one who turns from all types of evil.
It is God who mentions to Satan, “have you considered and reflected on my servant Job?” At this point in time I would think that Satan would say, ” yes Lord I’ve seen Job and he’s everything that you says that he is.” But the conversation takes a different turn.
THE DEVIL
He is referred to as the accuser and the adversary (verse 6). The devil has been on a walkabout on the earth, and obviously he has seen and interacted with the persons on Earth. So when God asked him if he had considered God’s servant Job, we see that the devil must have had intimate knowledge of Job.
His response to God is true to his title as accuser and adversary. this is how he responds:
•Does Job fear got for nothing?
•Have YOU not put a hedge of protection around him, and everything he has on every side?
•YOU have made him prosperous!
Then the devil says to God, “but put forth your hand now and touch (destroy) all that he has and he will surely curse you to your face” (verse 11).
With these accusations the devil has put God in a position that HE has to defend his claim of Job’s righteousness. My expectation at this point in time was that God would just say to the devil, “Job is righteous and he will not curse me, you know that and I know that therefore there is no need to hurt Job”. But again I am surprised by God’s response.
THE RESPONSE
Verse 12 states : “Then the Lord said to satan, “Behold, all that Job has is in your power, only do not put your hand on the man himself.”
Wow! As Christians we tend to believe that once we are under God’s protection that the devil cannot harm us, or the devil does not have access to us. But in this passage we see that the devil got permission from God to test Job. I am reminded of the passage where Jesus said to Peter ‘the devil is seeking to sift you, but when you return strengthen your brothers’. In the Old testament and the New testament, we see that the devil has access to us to do things within the permission of God.
The good news from both these examples is that even though both men struggled, in the end they both did what God said that they would do. Job did not curse God, and Peter after he denied Christ did come back and strengthened his brothers. For me, what this means is that even though the devil may come at us in many different ways with God’s permission, we will be victorious every time when we stay true to our relationship with God.
Also this verse shows us that the devil is limited in what he can do to us, because he does not get full permission from God to destroy us totally.
As we look closer at God’s response, we see that God has faith in Job and He trusts Job to be faithful to HIM. God knew Job , just like He knows us, and as the Bible says HE will not give us anything greater than we can manage. So today when we go through persecutions, struggles, trials, temptations let us realize that our God has provided every means for us to be successful against the devil. We just have to keep our focus on God and keep serving HIM in the bad times the way we serve HIM in the good times. Let us be constant and consistent in our worship of God no matter what situations we find ourselves in.
CONCLUSION
The three main characters in this life are GOD, man and the accuser. It is my prayer that we will be like Job who honors, fears, and trust God. It is my prayer that we will be like Job who God testifies about. It is my prayer that when the accuser comes against us we will stay true to our faith, our Hope, and our trust in God.
